Kim Kardashian enters fragrance world, launches her first scents

PanARMENIAN.Net - Reality TV star Kim Kardashian is about to turn the fragrance world upside down with the launch of her first direct-to-consumer venture in the category, WWD reports.

On Wednesday, November 15, Kardashian will introduce the very first scents under her KKW Beauty brand, which since its inception in June, has focused on the color cosmetics category. The three eau de parfums, all based on Kardashian’s favorite flower, the gardenia, will be sold exclusively at kkwfragrance.com.

Kardashian said she was inspired by healing crystals, which she started to receive as gifts from friends following a robbery in Paris last year (where she was held at gunpoint). Developing the scents — Crystal Gardenia, Crystal Gardenia Citrus and Crystal Gardenia Oud — was about “being calm and healing,” which are the two words she used to describe a newly zen approach taken over the past year. The trio of fragrances, each housed in a slim, geometric frosted glass bottle that resembles a quartz crystal, will come in two sizes: 30 ml. and 75 ml., priced at $35 and $60, respectively.

But Kardashian’s massive Instagram following must act fast. The limited-edition fragrances are first come, first serve, which means once they’re gone, that’s it. Kardashian has no plans of replenishing stock once the collection sells through, she told WWD last week, revealing that there are plans to launch a second trio of scents in February, just in time for Valentine’s Day. These will have an entirely new concept and bottles, but that was all she would say about upcoming fragrances.

And similar to Kardashian’s previous KKW Beauty launches, the social media juggernaut is once again utilizing her strong following to reach a range of consumers.

Like her 20-year-old sister Kylie Jenner, Kardashian is angling to create a multihundred-million-dollar empire. The Kardashian-Jenners’ beauty businesses are going toe-to-toe with industry behemoths like L’Oréal, Coty Inc., Shiseido Co. and The Estée Lauder Cos. Inc., with single-day sales volumes and record sellout times that even the largest of legacy beauty brands can’t command.

Kardashian maintained that production for Crystal Gardenia is in line with her first two launches, meaning that 300,000 bottles will go on sale Wednesday — and will likely all sell out. If one averages price of the two bottle sizes ($47.50) and multiplies that by 300,000, the potential sales volume for her first day in business — or minutes, if they sell as quickly as the KKW by Kylie Cosmetics sets — is $14.3 million.

Kardashian, who has Armenian roots, first entered the business world with her two sisters and opened the boutique shop D-A-S-H in Calabasas, California.